


The Beginning

by iamfitzwilliamdarcy



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 14:40:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2815772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamfitzwilliamdarcy/pseuds/iamfitzwilliamdarcy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not exactly the homecoming Peter had expected, but he has his duties to his siblings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beginning

“Hello?” Peter’s greeting echoed in the house with no reply, and he frowned. He hadn’t expected a huge gala upon his return, but he had hoped for a little more than an empty house. They all knew he was coming; he’d called and talked to Edmund and Lucy just the day before. 

With a sigh, he set his luggage down by the front door. He was on his way to the kitchen to see if anyone had left a note, when he heard a bang from upstairs followed by a string of curses. Shaking his head fondly, he rerouted and headed upstairs to see his brother.

The door was cracked, but Peter knocked anyway, before pushing it open. Edmund’s head was just emerging from the sweater he’d yanked on, hair ruffled, as he turned to see who was coming in. His mouth was already open, ready to tell someone off, when he caught sight of who it was at the door.

“Peter!” he said, startled. “I thought you’d be back later!”

 Peter had just enough time to open his arms before they were full of little brother. He was babbling on cheerfully. “Mum and Lucy are down at the shops, Christmas shopping, I expect, and Dad had to go into work for a little bit, but he said he wouldn’t be gone long, and—,” 

“Ed,” Peter interrupted, distracted. He pulled back, taking Edmund’s face into his hands to examine the angry red mark he’d noticed. “What happened to you?”

“Ah,” Edmund said with a wince. He shifted out of Peter’s gentle grip, raising his own hand to rub ruefully at the mark. “I was rather hoping that’d be gone by the time any else got back. It’s not bad at all,” he added, as if that was reassuring.

Peter just raised his eyebrows, and Edmund deflated. “You have to promise you won’t be mad at her,” he warned, and Peter had a wild moment trying to figure out which woman in their house would ever raise a hand to his brother.

 Ed continued talking, though. “It was just—we got in a fight, Su and I, and it was terrible. We were both out of line and angry.”

“ _Susan_ did this?” Susan, his gentle sister who had so often been Peter’s partner in taking care of and protecting their younger siblings. If anyone but Edmund had said it, Peter wouldn’t have believed them.

“Yes,” Edmund said irritably. “And she apologized multiple times and fussed over me like I was  five-years-old. It’s all fine, I promise.”

Peter was silent for a minute, trying to process. Eventually, he asked, “What’d you two argue about?”

 Edmund pursed his lips, looking so much like Susan when she thought Peter was being dense that he had trouble reconciling his two siblings ever being at odds. “Narnia,” Edmund said. “We argued over Narnia. What else?”

“Ah.” Peter didn’t have much else to say to that. He’d gotten the letters while at school from Edmund and even Lucy about how Susan had changed, shifted, just slightly but enough to cause grief. She no longer remembered Narnia—or at least claimed not to. Her own letters were happy enough, never mentioning the rising tension between their siblings. But he hadn’t been home in months and had apparently missed out on the extent of the rift. 

“It doesn’t look too bad, does it?” Edmund asked, breaking the silence. “I don’t want anyone to worry.”

Peter peered at him critically. “Well, it could use some stitches. A huge bandage. Oh, I wish we had Lu’s cordial, I’m worried you may not last through the—” he broke off laughing when Edmund whacked him with a pillow. “Really, though, don’t worry. It’s already fading. It probably wouldn’t have even lasted this long if you weren’t so pale; honestly, have you not seen the sun since I left? It’s just outside, you know.”

It earned him another smack from the pillow, but Edmund was smiling, and he counted it as a victory.

*************

He didn’t forget though. Edmund had gone out to watch a few of his friends play rugby, and Peter was just finishing unpacking when he heard Susan come home. She was with a couple of friends, and he could hear them giggling together as he came down the stairs to greet her.

“Susan?” he called when he got to the bottom of the stairs. 

She turned from her two friends and, catching sight of Peter, smiled. “Peter!” She flung her arms around him. She pecked his cheek and pulled back. “Oh it’s so nice you’re home again.”

 “Hello, Su.” He felt himself relax as she introduced him briefly to her two friends; this was the sister he’d always known; perhaps everything had just been blown out of proportion. Still, he thought it best to talk. “Could I have a word?” 

“Of course,” she said. “I was just seeing Alice and Mary off anyway; the cab’s waiting.”

“It was a pleasure meeting you,” Peter said, and they giggled, returning his pleasantries, as Susan bustled to the door. “I’ll call you tomorrow, girls. Goodbye!” 

“You’d better!” the one said while the other added, “Good night, Susie!”

Once they’d left, Susan turned to him. “Is everything alright?” she asked.

“I was going to ask you the same question. You’re okay, aren’t you, Su?” 

She looked startled, her hand fluttering up to her chest and eyes narrowing in confusion. “Of course I am. I’m perfectly lovely, in fact. Whyever wouldn’t I be?”

“I was just—I was talking with Emdund earlier, and—” Susan stiffened, but instead of rushing to her own defense, she reached out and clutched Peter’s hands. 

“Oh Peter, I am so dreadfully sorry about that,” she said quickly, eyes wide and pleading. “I really didn’t mean it, I just got so angry, and—,”

“It’s alright,” Peter reassured her, giving her hands a squeeze. “Edmund’s fine and I’m sure forgiven you by now. I was just wondering, about, well, Narnia.” 

Her face turned stony and she dropped his hands. “I don’t want to talk about that. All Edmund ever does is push and nag about silly Narnia, and now, here you are too. You’re an adult, Peter. It’s time to grow up and leave such childish games behind.”

“But Aslan—,” 

“And now, if you’ll excuse me, Richie Smith is taking me to dinner soon, and I must get ready.” She shouldered past him and flounced upstairs.

 Peter heard her bedroom door slam shut, and sighed. Things really were worse than he’d thought, but he wasn’t prone to despair. After all, no one was beyond mend, least of all his sister, a queen of Narnia. It was only a matter of patience.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm not sure how much i like how this turned out but i just have so many thoughts about their sibling dynamics throughout the series and especially between edmund and susan leading up to the last battle#and i was just trying to get some of it down idk


End file.
